彼此彼此、拴着 - 古德明

彼此彼此、拴着 - 古德明

問:看美國電視劇,見到一人說:Nice to see you(很高興見到你),另一人回答:You too(我也很高興見到你)。為什麼說You too而不是Me too?
答:回答Nice to see you,可以說Nice to see you, too;畧去前面三個字,就變成You, too。這是很常用的省畧法,例如:On hearing him say "Nice to see you," I merely responded with a faint smile, biting back the customary "You, too"(我聽到他說「很高興見到你」,只是報以淡淡一笑,把差點說出口的習用語「彼此,彼此」硬嚥下肚裏)。回答Nice to see you,除了把Nice to see you, too畧作You, too,還可說Same here或Likewise,表示「我也如此」,免卻重複人家整句話。這兩個說法,也可用於其他場合,例如:(1)"I grew up in Macao." "Same here."(「我在澳門長大。」「我也是。」)(2)"Good luck for your exams!" "Likewise."(「祝你考試好運。」「彼此,彼此。」)第二句的Likewise也可擴為一整句:Likewise, good luck for your exams, too。
問:Tether一字怎樣用?
答:Tether是拴牛、馬等用的繩或鏈;作動詞,則指用繩或鏈拴着,例如:(1)I tethered the dog to a post(我把狗拴在一條柱旁)。(2)The dog chewed through its tether and ran away(那隻狗把拴着牠的繩子咬斷,跑掉了)。成語to be at the end of one's tether直譯是「到了繩子長度的極限」,即無法往前再走一步,比喻「計窮力盡」。